Legacy - is Exalted "good" or "just nice"

[Norm4eva]

...as in, would people give a second thought to cards like QPM and Noble Hierarch if not for the Exalted ability?

It's not like anyone was playing Viridian Zealot prior to Pridemage's printing.  And Hierarch without Exalted is a bad BoP, amirite?  So is Exalted the thing that makes them worth the spot in the deck?

And does it work both ways?  Like, okay, White Weenie tends to operate on the idea that Stoneforge Mystic finds the right Equipment card and you go to town on someone with one mans.  Considering that there's a billion shitty White creatures out there, but some of them are given Exalted more or less 'for free' (ie it doesn't fuck with their mana cost : power/toughness ratio), is there merit to running 6 - 8 Exalted guys in a deck like that?

Or does Exalted have more to do with the total package - that is to say, usually the guy who's getting the bonus is Tarmogoyf and he's already a giant, so making your giant bigger than theirs is important because a 5/6 Goyf kills a 4/5.  Right?

Sorry if this seems like a noob-ass question to ask, but as I've never been a skilled deckbuilder I like to ask stupid questions. 

[honestabe]

It gives you an extra edge vs ad nauseam decks, and wins goyf stalls.  If something wins gofy stalls, its probably good in legacy.  Plus, an exalted War Monk is sweeet

[DubDub]

Exalted also gives a sort of 'virtual' haste, by adding damage the turn the creature comes into play (if you have another non-summoning-sick creature to attack with, that you plan to attack alone with).

The exalted mechanic is also quite strong in Vintage, powering one of the top Fish decks in the format, Noble Fish, due to the interaction between Cold-Eyed Selkie and exalted creatures.

[JACO]

The Exalted mechanic is very important in Legacy because many situations come down to ground combat, and Exalted triggers often mean sneaking through 3-5 damage extra per game.

To answer your other question, Noble Hierarch would not be played if there was no Exalted mechanic. Birds of Paradise would be strictly better. Qasali Pridemage on the other hand is very good and would probably still see play because of its cost and disenchant effect (which is important in many Legacy matchups currently). As printed though, Qasali Pridemage is probably the most important Legacy card printed in the past couple of years.

[Delha]

Considering that there's a billion shitty White creatures out there, but some of them are given Exalted more or less 'for free' (ie it doesn't fuck with their mana cost : power/toughness ratio), is there merit to running 6 - 8 Exalted guys in a deck like that?

This is clearly untrue. In any case where you see a creature with Exalted, that ability is accounted for in the card's design. If not for Exalted, they would just have flying or some other (probably combat related) ability instead.